The approaches described in this section are approaches that could be pursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, it should not be assumed that any of the approaches described in this section qualify as prior art merely by virtue of their inclusion in this section.
Multi-functional peripherals (MFPs) are devices that provide multiple functions to users. Typically, such functions comprise printing, scanning, copying, and faxing. One conventional technique for employing an MFP in the scan context is for a user to manually enter a username and password via a display (either graphical, non-graphical, or a combination thereof) of the MFP, place one or more printed documents on a screen of the MFP, and select a scan button on the MFP. Because the MFP is a device that multiple people use and for which usage details are typically desired (e.g., for billing purposes), a user must be registered with the MFP and each registered user must input his/her own username and password in order to complete a, for example, print job, scan job, or copy job. Manually entering a username and password for each print, scan, or copy job can be laborious and error-prone. Another disadvantage to MFPs is that user interfaces of MFPs tend not to be user-friendly or visually appealing.